1. Field of the Invention
The invention concerns a steam pressure cooker, which consists of a lower pot and a cover unit for pressure sealing the lower pot by means of a ring-shaped sealing element in which said lower pot has a circular, smooth pot rim angled toward the outside which pot rim from a top plan view preferably has a continuous circular outer edge and said cover unit has a lower lid and at least one sealing element forming the upper lid which seals in the closed position that is movable relative to the lower lid and said lower pot on a plane parallel to the plane of the pot rim and also has an upper rim section of the upper lid for engaging an outer rim portion of the lower lid and at least one lower flange of the upper lid extending across about half the perimeter and engaging the lower portion of the pot rim in the locking position.
2. Description of the Prior Art
A similar pressure cooker is shown in German patent 25 34 709 which consists of a lower lid and a seal ring, which is designed as a second closed lid and is supplied with a flange engaging the lower part of the pot rim along about half the perimeter. The result is that when the lid and the seal ring are rotated in opposite directions to each other, the flanges can be placed in an overlapping position. In this position the lid together with the seal ring can be removed laterally from the pot rim. In this case a pushing action must be exerted to put on and remove the cover unit. To open and close the pressure cooker it is further necessary to rotate the whole seal ring forming the second closed lid relative to the lower lid.
The purpose of the present invention is to redesign this type of prior art pressure cooker to make it simple in construction, reliable to use and easier to handle.
These improvements are provided by the present invention by the following construction. An upper lid consists of two half-lids; each half-lid rotates relative to the lower lid and the lower pot about their own swivel axis which is essentially parallel to the central vertical axis of the pot. These swivel axes lie eccentrically to the central axis of the pot and diametrically opposite each other in a swivel mechanism hinged in the middle of the lower lid.